by Eric Vall
I’d been joking, of course, because I didn’t want to put any of the princesses in bigger danger than we were already in, but Ariana spoke up.
“This is my kingdom, so I’m taking the biggest risks,” the red-haired mermaid said in a firm tone. “I’ve already exposed you to enough danger, so I’m going to explore the room first.”
“But, Joe can--”
“No, I mean it,” the redhead interrupted Jessamine and pulled out her trident. “I know how to fight just as well as anyone else.”
“Besides, it’s just a silly little door,” Cienna said and choked out a laugh. “I don’t know what we’re so worried about.”
“Okay, Ariana,” I relented, since I’d never heard the quiet princess so emphatic. “Your kingdom, your rules. But I’m going next.”
The mermaid nodded, swam down, and pushed on the small wooden panel, but nothing happened.
“Hmm,” she mused. “We’re definitely getting in there now that we’ve found it, even if we have to smash it open.”
“Try sliding it,” Jessamine suggested, but I doubted the swollen wood would budge.
However, to my surprise, when Ariana pushed on it from the side, the small door easily slid open to reveal the darkness within.
The redhead shone her lantern within the new chamber we’d opened and then turned back to report her findings.
“It appears to be some sort of passage,” Ariana announced. “It continues for quite a ways across the hull of the ship.”
“Ariana, can I have your lantern?” I asked. “Now that I know we have to go down a tunnel, I really think I should be the one to go first.”
“Fine, Joe,” the redheaded princess sighed. “Here you go.”
She handed me the lantern, and I surveyed the passage with a small feeling of dread. I didn’t think the petite princesses would have any trouble squeezing through, but I was definitely going to have to pull my shoulders in to keep from getting stuck. I wasn’t necessarily claustrophobic, but I wasn’t thrilled, either.
“Here goes nothing,” I muttered and swallowed hard. Then I swam forward and pushed myself into the narrow tunnel as I tried to grip the lantern with one hand, and I shoved myself forward through the passageway with the other.
As I’d suspected, the wooden walls seemed like they were closing in on me, and I gulped back a feeling of panic. I couldn’t see how long the passage was because it was so dark in front of us, and it felt like the journey was taking forever. I tried to focus on taking deep, steady breaths even as the seawater burned my lungs, but every one of my senses was on high alert.
“Is everyone alright?” Ariana called out to the rest of us.
“Yes, I’m managing,” Cienna responded, and I heard Jessamine grunt in assent. I hated not being able to see my wives in case anything came up behind them, but there was no way I would have let them head forward into the unknown depths of the ship without me, either.
Just when I thought I was going to lose my mind, the lantern revealed that the passage opened up in front of me about six feet ahead.
“Thank god,” I mumbled and tried to propel myself even faster through the tunnel. I finally reached the room at the end of it, and I gasped as I swung the lantern around.
I’d seen a huge collection of riches in the storeroom at Jessamine’s palace, but this beat that by far.
The secret chamber contained several huge treasure chests surrounded by piles of gold coins and jewels, and the glorious bounty was piled almost as high as the ceiling of the small room, which brushed the top of my head when I pulled myself upright.
“Wow…” Ariana gasped as she followed me into the chamber. “I suppose the tales about the Sea Dragon were true. This is… a lot of riches.”
“Amazing,” Cienna said, and she stared at all the treasure chests with bulging sapphire eyes. “If I were going to try to find a magic potion on a pirate ship, this would definitely be the place.”
I knew it was a big deal if even the princesses were impressed by the amount of treasure.
“Well, let’s start looking,” Jessamine suggested, and she swam over to the largest chest and tried to pull it open. It was encrusted with centuries’ worth of barnacles, though, and she struggled for a moment before she sighed.
“Joe, try to help me with this,” the dark-haired princess implored, and I headed over to her side. I tried to pry open the latch with my hand, but they had long been rusted shut.
“I’m going to try to break it open with my pliers,” I grunted.
I managed to grip the rusty latch with the tool and twisted as hard as I could, and when the chest started to creak open, Jessamine gasped with delight.
“I think you got it!” she exclaimed. A moment later, she pushed the lid away from the chest, and I saw it was full of gems in different colors, which we immediately dug our hands into. The sensation of the smooth gems in the cold water was like nothing I’d felt before, and I grinned as I jostled the stones in my hand.
The multicolored jewels gave me an idea, too, but I needed to wait until the princesses were distracted. Then, Cienna called out, and I knew I was in luck.
“Ladies, come look at these paintings,” my blonde wife requested. “You can still see some of the artwork.”
Jessamine and Ariana quickly floated over to join the other woman, and once I was alone, I quickly rifled through the chest. I wanted to find something to give to each of the princesses, a gift from this bountiful loot, kind of like a souvenir. The gems were even bigger than anything I’d ever seen, and I quickly selected a large sapphire for Cienna, a ruby for Jessamine, and an emerald for Ariana. Then I stuck the jewels into my pocket and tried to look casual. I thought I would try to give them their presents when we were somewhere a little less stressful, like when we got back to the palace.
It was hard to see much else in the green glow of the lantern, though, and the water was murky. We spent about twenty minutes searching the chamber, and, after a while, I could tell everyone was beginning to get frustrated. The darkness and the chill had started to get to me, and I was tempted to ask Ariana to call off the quest. I knew the antidote was important to her kingdom, but this seemed like it was going to be fruitless.
“Hey, I have an idea,” Jessamine suddenly said, and I could see her face brighten. “Joe, remember when we found the magic carpet? Our combined powers helped us locate something magical, and we hadn’t even gotten married yet. Maybe if we all hold hands, we’ll be able to find it.”
“It’s a thought…” Cienna replied with a doubtful shrug. “It definitely can’t hurt.”
“Is this going to be like… when I touched Joe before?” Ariana asked us, and Jessamine nodded.
“You should see and feel the sparks, yes, and I suppose we’ll find out if anything happens,” my raven-haired wife replied.
The blonde princess reached out her hands, and Ariana set her lantern down onto the chamber’s floor and grabbed hold of one of them. Then she pulled Jessamine into the circle with her other hand while I positioned myself between my wives, and we all began to concentrate.
I bowed my head to focus, and I immediately saw a shower of blue, golden, and now green sparks flash behind my closed eyelids. My palms tingled where they touched Jessamine and Cienna’s hands, and I squeezed even harder.
“I feel your power,” Ariana breathed. “If I was unsure before, but I have no doubt it’s real now.”
“It’s real,” Cienna replied. “I’m just not sure it’s actually doing anything.”
And then, suddenly, I felt a peculiar sensation, and when I opened my eyes, I caught something out of the corner of my eye. I turned toward that side of the room, and I thought I saw a faint, purple spot of light rising from the ground.
“Do you see that?” Jessamine asked us, and she let go of my hand to poke me in the side. “I think there’s something there.”
“Yeah, I see it, too.” I swam over to the side of the chamber where the glow had appeared, and I reached out and
caught something small in my hand.
When I looked down, I was amazed to see it was a small purple bottle with a golden top. I held my find out to the princesses, who all gasped in unison.
“Did we actually find it?” Cienna asked. “I can’t believe it.”
“That certainly looks like it could be it,” Ariana said with a slight nod. “I think it’s definitely worth bringing back to Marinus for inspection.”
“Do you notice anything about the bottle?” Jessamine stared at it closely. “Do the colors remind you of anything?”
“Yeah, I see it.” I pulled out Genie’s Wrath for a moment, and I thought I saw both the purple stone on the sword and the small purple bottle flash briefly. I had no idea what it meant, but given the luck Genie’s Wrath had brought me, it didn’t seem like a bad sign. So, I returned the sword to my side, and I spaced out for a moment as I stared at the small bottle before I stuck it into my pocket.
“I’m not honestly sure I can stand it for much longer in here,” Cienna groaned, and I looked at my blonde wife with concern. It’s just so small and dark.”
If she was complaining now, I knew it meant she really didn’t feel well, so when she grabbed tight to my shoulder, I put my arm around her. “
“I’m just wondering…” Ariana began, and she picked up her light and shone it around the small room again. “This is a great hiding place, but it doesn’t seem like the Sea Dragon would want to squeeze himself through that tiny tunnel every time he needed his treasure. Could there be another way out?”
“I might see it!” Jessamine cried out, and she gestured at a small square on the ceiling.
“Fuck it,” I said, and I punched my arm up through the panel. The wood cracked open, and all the princesses cheered.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Cienna muttered, and she pushed her way forward and up through the hole. “Hey, you need to see where this leads!”
We quickly followed her, and I realized we were back in the captain’s chambers, horrible skeleton on the wall and all. There had apparently been a trapdoor we had missed the first time we were in the cabin, and I groaned.
“If only we’d seen this before,” I chuckled.
“The tunnel wasn’t that bad!” Jessamine chirped.
“Yeah, because you actually fit,” I told her. “In any case, I’m glad to be out of there now. And I can’t believe we may have actually found the serum Marinus was talking about. Now, let’s try to get back to your kingdom, Ariana.”
Before we could move, though, there came a loud banging sound on the outside of the cabin’s wooden walls. I looked in the direction of the noise, and I noticed the rotting wood start to splinter. As the banging became more persistent, I glanced around at the princesses.
“Grab your weapons,” I announced in a grim tone. “I don’t know what the hell is out there, but it seems big.”
I pulled out Genie’s Wrath, and the princesses armed themselves. I wasn’t sure what to do yet, but it turned out to be a moot point, because the wood suddenly cracked open, and I saw one of the strangest fish I’d ever seen. I could identify it as a shark because of its pointed dorsal fin, but it was glowing bright orange in the darkness. The shark was at least six feet long and had a blunt nose and a mouth filled with bizarre teeth that looked almost human, and it was headed in our direction.
I raised Genie’s Wrath for a moment, but I stopped and gasped as the orange glow got brighter and brighter. Then I realized the princesses and I weren’t alone with the monster.
Because there were at least fifty more behind it.
Chapter 11
I looked around the captain’s cabin, and I realized we would soon be cornered by the sharks if we didn’t act quickly. I searched for an escape route and noticed a hole in the ceiling, and I thought if Cienna could freeze time for a moment, we might be able to escape the confines of the room.
I used Genie’s Wrath to slash out at the first beast and keep him at bay, and I realized it was lucky the shark hadn’t fully broken through the wall yet.
“Cienna, go for it!” I shouted, and I pointed upward at our potential escape route. “Get ready, everyone. We’re heading up!”
My blonde wife nodded at me, and time stopped around us. I was impressed she’d been able to stop time for all four of us, because the more people involved, the harder the spell was to perform.
Jessamine and Ariana shot upward toward the hole in the cabin’s ceiling, but Cienna was concentrating so hard on maintaining her spell she remained frozen in place with her eyes closed. So, I grabbed her wrist to pull her upward to relative safety, and I hoped my touch would help her magic, as well.
I made my way out of the hole, and I tugged Cienna up and through. As I held tight to the blonde princess, I followed Ariana and Jessamine up further to a position about fifty feet above our current attackers. From our elevated position, I could see there were even more sharks than we’d originally thought. Hundreds of them now surrounded the ship’s cabin, and I knew they would swarm us immediately as soon as time went back to normal. We were lucky in one regard, however. I didn’t know if it was the addition of Ariana to our party, but the blonde’s magic was lasting much longer than usual.
Time had to move again eventually, though, and I only had a couple moments to think before the horrific animals found us. The glowing orange monsters were looking around in confusion, but I knew they would soon catch on to our scent again. They didn’t seem that smart, and they were pretty slow, but there were a hell of a lot of them. They also seemed vicious, with their rows of serrated sharp teeth.
I decided to try to strike out at the sharks with Genie’s Wrath similarly to the way I’d attacked the pirate captain. This was going to be a little trickier since the targets were coming from all directions, but I thought I could pull it off, especially if Jessamine and Cienna helped me.
“Cienna, Jessamine, can you each grab my shoulders for a moment?” I called out through the rushing of the waves. “I want to kill as many of these bastards as possible, and I think I need support.”
“Of course, Joe, whatever you need,” Jessamine responded, and she and Cienna moved to my sides and touched me as requested.
Two small blasts of power ran down my arms from their hands, and I tried to imagine them flowing directly into my great, golden sword just like my pal Link would have done in my favorite video game franchise.
Next, I held Genie’s Wrath out in front of me with both hands and concentrated downward at the sharks, who were still several yards below us in the water. A moment later, purple lightning zapped to life around the blade, and as soon as the first spray of violet sparks hit the school of sharks, I spun around in a circle in the water. I blasted the nearest animals with a shower of lightning, and I incinerated what seemed like hundreds of them. Orange goo and chunks of the beasts billowed through the water around us, and I squinted through the gory haze.
The explosion bought us some time, and the nearest living sharks were now about twenty yards away, with a ring of corpses between us and them. I was dismayed there still seemed to be hundreds left, though, and for a moment, I froze in the cold current. My eyes and lips were burning from the salt, and all I could smell was something like old food rotting, which I assumed was coming from the animals surrounding us.
Then I suddenly listed to the side, and my vision doubled and tunneled for a moment.
“Joe, are you okay?” I heard Jessamine scream from what seemed like far away.
“U-Uh, yeah, I think I’m alright,” I replied as I rubbed my eyes. “I’m just a little… tired… or something. Definitely need full hearts to pull that move off.”
As I spoke, I realized it was harder for me to stay afloat. My legs felt like they were filled with lead, and Genie’s Wrath was twice as heavy in my hands.
Man, I guess that lightning blow really sapped my strength. At least I didn’t get blown off a ship this time, though.
“We got you, Joe,” Cienna assured me, and she
grabbed and pulled me closer to herself and the other princesses. They all had their weapons brandished and were staring at the ring of deadly fish, which were now approaching us from all sides again.
“Ugh, it seems like there are more than ever,” Jessamine moaned. “It looks like there are hundreds of them. We need to act fast.”
“I think I can make a bubble like the one I cast on my castle,” Ariana told us, and the muscles in her jaw tightened as she concentrated on the spell.
“Here, hold our hands again,” Cienna said, and we all made a ring as we still managed to hold tight to our weapons.
“Okay, I know the shield is invisible, but we should be protected now,” Ariana told us after a moment.
The sharks were approaching even closer, and I could clearly see their weird, flat faces and humanoid grins. The sea glowed orange from their bodies as if they were on fire and cast a strange glare on our faces, and I grimaced as they continued to swim closer.
“How big is the bubble?” I asked. “They seem like they’re getting awfully close!”
“We have about ten feet around us for protection,” Ariana responded in a strained voice, and she set her mouth back into a tight line as she focused.
And then, the sharks suddenly started bumping into Ariana’s magic enclosure. Just like the sparks from Genie’s Wrath I’d shot at the castle’s magic barrier, some of the giant fish started bouncing off the walls of the bubble. Others swam right up and pressed their faces up against the invisible barrier as if they were children making silly faces. I could see their gigantic black nostrils and their eyes, which were a bright, glassy green, but their teeth remained their most disturbing feature, and I had to shudder and look away for a moment.
“What’s next, hero?” Jessamine asked from my side. It was surprisingly quiet within Ariana’s bubble, and it was easy to hear her speak.
“I’m still working on a master plan,” I muttered. “But be ready to attack with your weapons when the spell ends. We need to strike out hard and fast against these things.”
